fasting rules

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kathrin
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
K

Kathrin

Guest
Does anybody have a reference for more exact fasting rules than what it says in the catechism, if there is anything like that?
For instance, do the small snacks have to be at regular mealtimes? Or could I have a snack and then in an hour my full meal?
I am asking because I drank some coffee and there may have been something in it (from the coffee bean?) and now I am not sure if that counts as a snack because it wasn’t just liquid anymore if there was something in it… I only had liquids so far today otherwise, I wanted to just have one meal at night, but now I am not sure if I am allowed to because I had that “something” in my liquid less than an hour ago. It is already 10.30pm here. I could just play it safe and wait until midnight but I have to work tomorrow. I could just go to sleep without eating but I am a bit worried because of my health.

Any suggestions welcome,

Kathrin
 
All of the mentions of fasting in canon law are found in this section. As you can see, it is up to your conference of bishops to establish more precise rules. I’m really not sure what the Swiss rules may be, or where to find them if they aren’t at any of the diocese websites you’ve probably already checked.

In my experience, timing is up to the individual.

If I recall, you sometimes suffer from scrupulosity. It’s important to remember that these rules are designed to be reasonable, and to be applied by reasonable people. So the question becomes, is it reasonable to consider a speck of coffee bean that wasn’t strained out to be a snack? I would say no, that’s not a snack. On the other hand, if a chocolate bar was blended into your coffee, that could be a different story, even if it was liquid.

Go get some food!
 
Well, it’s almost midnight now, so I guess after midnight I don’t have to worry about what I eat anymore.

The important thing about today was that I did a lot of praying, went to church, felt the spirit of the day… except when I started being too scrupulous. 😊

Now I just hope it’s ok I eat something after midnight.

In any case good night everybody… have a blessed day… and a blessed Easter… God bless you all!

Kathrin
 
Yeah that’s a good one :).

I am still a bit confused about the “and some food in the morning and evening”. That does seem to imply that one full meal HAS TO be at midday?
 
Kathrin said:
Yeah that’s a good one :).

I am still a bit confused about the “and some food in the morning and evening”. That does seem to imply that one full meal HAS TO be at midday?
Click to expand...
The full meal doesn’t have to be at a particular time. If one is doing manual labor, eating the main meal at midday can be the most effective way to keep one’s strength up until the end of the work day, but it isn’t mandatory.
 
Kathrin said:
Does anybody have a reference for more exact fasting rules than what it says in the catechism, if there is anything like that?
For instance, do the small snacks have to be at regular mealtimes? Or could I have a snack and then in an hour my full meal?
I am asking because I drank some coffee and there may have been something in it (from the coffee bean?) and now I am not sure if that counts as a snack because it wasn’t just liquid anymore if there was something in it… I only had liquids so far today otherwise, I wanted to just have one meal at night, but now I am not sure if I am allowed to because I had that “something” in my liquid less than an hour ago. It is already 10.30pm here. I could just play it safe and wait until midnight but I have to work tomorrow. I could just go to sleep without eating but I am a bit worried because of my health.

Any suggestions welcome,

Kathrin
Click to expand...
From the Modern Catholic Dictionary:

The modern Church regulations on fasting, until 1966, prescribed taking only one full meal a day, along with some food for breakfast and a collation. Days of fast and abstinence for the universal Church were Ash Wednesday, the Fridays and Saturdays of Lent, Ember days, and the vigils of certain feasts. Days of fast only were the rest of the days of Lent, except Sundays. Special indults affected different nations and were provided for by canon law.

With the constitution Paenitemini of Paul VI in 1966, the meaning of the law of fasting remained, but the extent of the obligation was changed. Thus “the law of fasting allows only one full meal a day, but does not prohibit taking some food in the morning and evening, while observing approved local custom as far as quantity and quality of food are concerned.” To the law of fast are bound those of the faithful who have completed their eighteenth year and up until the beginning of their sixtieth year. Prescribed days of fast and abstinence for the whole Church are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Nevertheless, as with abstinence, so with fasting or other forms of penance, “It is up to the bishops, gathered in their episcopal conferences, to establish the norms . . . which they consider the most opportune and efficacious” (Paenitemini, III). In the Eastern rites it is the right of the patriarch, together with the synod or supreme authority of every rite, to determine the days of fast and abstinence in accordance with the decree of the Second Vatican Council for Eastern Churches.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top